Her Sly Slytherin
by Callicobra
Summary: One year after the battle and Hogwarts is rebuilt. Hermione becomes a teacher and finds out that she will be woking with Draco. He seems nicer now, but he is still just as sly about something. He is sly about getting her heart. She isn't so sly about winning his. Will it ever be happily ever after?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

By CalliCobra

"It has been a year since the battle Hermione," Ginny says, while the two of them are sitting for coffee in muggle London. "In that time you have dated Ron and broken up with him, almost completely rebuilt Hogwarts, and you found your parents. Yet you haven't found anyone else to date yet!" Hermione sits back in her seat, tired of this conversation. Every time they see each other Ginny always talks about boys. It hasn't been that long since she broke it off with Ron, only three months, and she wasn't quite ready to officially move on. She had decided that when she was done helping rebuild Hogwarts she would get back out there but it wasn't done quite yet.

"Ginny, even when I decide to start dating again you should know that you can't set me up with people. How is it going with Harry?"

"I'm not sure. He has been so busy with training that we don't even see each other. It feels like I am raising Teddy by myself and he isn't even my godchild! He stays with his grandparents every night and during the weekends but they work during the week so he is staying with Harry, which means me." Ginny sits back in her seat. "Mom is know help, she is trying to show me that I shouldn't have kids for a while."

"You shouldn't," Hermione says, tearing off a bit of her scone and taking a bite.

"I know, I don't want kids right now. I have to finish school. Harry will have to figure something out with Teddy when I go back." Ginny takes a piece of Hermione's scone.

"Maybe Lavender can help out," Hermione says, jokingly. Ginny shudders.

"Their apartment smells like lavender, Ron smells like lavender, it makes me want to gag."

"It can't be that bad," Hermione replies, getting her bag, knowing that they will have to part ways soon.

"It is! It is so strong. I don't think Ron even notices," Ginny says, making Hermione snort. "I have to go. Harry will be home soon and I like to spend as much time as I can with him," she says, standing up. Hermione follows her out the door and to a alley behind the coffee shop.

"Same time next week?"

"Of course. I will let you know if something comes up." With a pop Ginny is gone.

Hermione walks out of the alley and down the streets to her townhouse. She hangs her coat on the back of a chair and puts her purse on the dining room table. She walks into her changing into sweatpants and a t-shirt, preparing to spend the night in. She grabs a history of Hogwarts, the original version of it, and curls up on the couch. The battle at Hogwarts made someone write a new book about it, including all of the things that the three of them went through while in school there. They were actually interviewed for a got free copies of it, but Hermione hasn't touched it besides for putting it on her shelves. She isn't ready to read about herself yet.

A tapping on the window makes Hermione drag her eyes away from her book to the window it is coming from. She recognizes Minerva's owl, Misericordia, and opens the window for it to land on the back of her couch. She takes the letter from it's foot and opens it. After reading it she rushes to her room and changes quickly then apparates to Hogwarts. Standing outside is all of the people who have helped rebuild. They are all hugging and giving high fives, huge smiles on their faces. Minerva walks over to her and hugs her.

"We put the last brick on twenty minutes ago. We can open for this school year if we get all of the professors that we need."

"I can't believe it is done," Hermione says, looking at the castle and remember the first time she saw it her first year. It might be more magical now that she has helped to build it.

"The press will be here tomorrow morning to announce it. Anyone is aloud to stay the night tonight so they can be in the picture tomorrow," Minerva says, and Hermione can tell she would like her to stay.

"Just because I stay tonight doesn't mean that I will take you up on your offer," she says.

"I know, we can talk about that tomorrow," Minerva says. "Come inside. You can have the defense against the dark arts professor's room." Everyone walks inside, looking around the castle like they haven't seen it everyday for the last year, and the last six or seven years. They were able to rebuild it exactly the same, changing up little things like the classroom size, dorm room size, professor room sizes, and then they added five rooms where the students can hang out and have fun together, to try add unity to the school.

Minerva shows Hermione where the room she will be sleeping in is. Hermione worked on the great hall and library mostly, getting the ceiling just right and collecting more books since some were destroyed in the battle. The rooms are very nice, a living room area that is lined with books on every wall, a room with a office, a loo, and a bedroom with its own bathroom. Hermione knows why Minerva gave her this room. Minerva would like her to become the DADA professor, saying that she is "the most qualified person to teach" and she must say, it is working slightly. She doesn't know what she was planning on doing when they finished construction, but she hadn't thought teaching would be it.

In the morning the photographer comes to take the picture early in the morning so they can release the article as soon as possible, even though it will be later than usual. Hermione gets questioned about the whole process of it, and asked if she knows who will be taking over the many empty positions. Rita Skeeter comes to her after that and begins asking her about her love life for some article on who the war heroes have ended up with. Hermione refuses to say anything and just walks away to join Minerva. The two witches walk together to the head masters office.

"Hermione, I implore to really consider your options before saying no to what I am offering. You could leave next year if you like, I just need someone for this year."

"What about one of the other people who fought? Neville would like it," she suggests.

"He is going to be the teaching Herbology. I have thought about everyone. Ginny is finishing school, Harry and Ron are doing their dream jobs, Luna is going to be teaching a newspaper class, all though I am some what rethinking that. You are the only person." Hermione sighs. It wouldn't be a terrible thing, she would have Neville and Luna and Ginny this year, and she would only be signed on to do it for one year, knowing that if she enjoyed it she could continue on.

"But I have never taught people before," she says, slouching back into her chair. "I don't even know if I wold be good at it."

"You will be. You helped Harry teach Dumbledores army. This would be people younger than you, for the most part. I don't mean to push you dear but I need you to decide now. I have to find other professors and if you don't except I need to add this position to the list." She hands Hermione a paper with the contract on it saying that she will be here for at least this year.

"Alright, can I have a quill please?" Minerva hands one to her that has already been dipped in ink. She signed on the line the paper disappears, most likely to the ministry.

"Thank you so much dear. I appreciate it greatly," she says, standing up.

"Who else do you have? To teach?"

"You already know about Neville and Luna. And then Draco will be the new potions professor," Minerva says, not looking at Hermione.

"Draco? Death eater Draco?"

"He has changed Hermione. His father is in jail and it was proven that he was abused by him and that he was forced into becoming a death eater. Give him a chance."

"But it's Draco! The Draco that I punched in third year!"

"What? Never mind, I don't think I want to know. You better be civil to each other because as first year teacher you get partnered with another teacher and I have decided that you two will be together. I must go, but feel free to stay for as long as you would like," she says, stepping into the fireplace and disappearing in green flames. Hermione bangs her head on the desk and groans.

* * *

"I can't believe that Hogwarts was finally rebuilt. I can't believe that I am going back tomorrow," Ginny says, taking a sip of her coffee. It has been a week since Hermione has agreed to teach and in that time she has been making as many lesson plans as she can. She was doing pretty good too, until it comes to the fifth, sixth, and seventh years. With the fifth years she at least has a idea of what to do because only a few of them fought in the battle. But with the sixth and seventh years, it is a whole different story. They all fought side by side each other, they all know what they need to know to protect themselves.

"Are you there still Mione?"

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking," Hermione says, shaking the thoughts out of her head and taking a sip of her own coffee.

"About what?"

"I haven't told anyone yet, I've been to busy. I am going to be teaching DADA this year."

"What? Hermione that is amazing! I mean, it will be strange having you teach me but the same goes for Neville and Luna. Are you excited about it?"

"I am. I'm nervous too, but I hope it all goes as planned. The only thing is who I am partnered with."

"What partners?"

"Apparently all first year professors get partnered with another person. Minerva gave me Draco."

"Really? What will he be teaching?"

"Potions, like his godfather."

"He didn't mention that when I last saw him."

"When did you see him?" Hermione asks, feeling a little shocked that this is the first time she has heard this.

"At the beginning of the summer he came to apologize for the way he treated us during school. Harry has been hanging out with him every other week or so."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's been asking for advise on how to apologize to you every time. He knows what he has said to you is terrible Mione. You should give him a chance."

"I can listen to him apologize then decide. I do feel sorry for him, with what he has been going through, with his dad and all of the stuff that was revealed about his family."

"Maybe you can be polite because you feel bad for him," Ginny suggests.

"I'm not going to promise anything but I will listen to what he has to say."

"I'm sure that is all he really wants." The two of them sit and talk about what they are looking forward to at Hogwarts. They talk until the shop closes.

* * *

Hermione is in her classroom the next afternoon, getting it ready for the year before the students arrive. A knock on the door interrupts her concentration on a spell she was doing to her desk to make it so that she is the only one who can touch anything on it. "Come in," she calls, expecting it to be Minerva.

"I don't mean to interrupt whatever you are doing," a voice she knows all to well says. "Minerva said I had to come by. And I wanted to talk to you," Draco says, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

"In the future you should start with that part. It sounds nicer. What is it?"

"I will try to remember that," he says, and Hermione can tell that he is nervous. "I just wanted to apologize for what I said and did to you in our school years. I know it was wrong of me and you don't have to forgive me but I have to say that I am sorry."

"Thank you. But it will take time, don't expect me to be your best friend overnight."

"You aren't my best friend," he says, a little defensively.

"I might be your only friend while you are here. I doubt Neville and Luna will forgive you nearly as easily as I am willing to." He sighs.

"Minerva also says that we have to sit by each other at every meal and hang out with each other for two hours every weekend." Hermione slouches a little bit and hopes that it wasn't visible.

"Alright. I will see you in the great hall in a few minutes. They get here soon right?"

"I think the train just got to the platform."

"So we should go now. I can do this tomorrow," she says, walking toward him. He holds out his arm of her to take.

"I was raised a gentlemen," he says when Hermione gives him a questioning look. She reluctantly takes his arm and they make their way to the great hall.

* * *

"Welcome to Hogwarts everyone! I am very excited to see all of the familiar faces and the new faces. I would like to tell you all that some things will be changing. We have made old classrooms into room where you can hang out and have fun, and the curfew is a hour later, but that isn't a huge deal. As you can see we have many new teachers this year, which also means new head of households. Taking over Ravenclaw will be Professor Lovegood, Hufflepuff will be Professor LongBottom, even though he was a Gryffindor. For Slytherin it will be Professor Malfoy, and for Gryffindor it will Professor Granger. I am assuming you are all starving, so let the feast begin," Minerva says, making the food appear.

Hermione is shocked. She had know idea that she would be a head of household, and have to personally care for a large group of people. Neville and Luna don't seemed surprised at all, but Draco is just as shocked as she is.

"Did you know?" she asks him, leaning over to make sure he hears her over the students talking.

"No. Did you?"

"No." They both start eating, and are mostly silent for the rest of the meal. The students go to the dorms and the plates disappear.

"Hermione, Draco, You will be on duty of the first three floors after the curfew. And that includes the Dungeons." Hermione and Draco both nod. They walk to their rooms and Hermione takes a shower and puts on a warm jacket for the rounds.

"Should we start at the dungeons?" Draco asks when she meets him out side of the teachers rooms.

"I guess. I'm not really sure what we are supposed to do if we catch anyone." They walk side by side down the halls. Hermione can't help noticing that he is wearing muggle looking clothes, and that they look really good on him. She looks away before there is any chance of him noticing her staring at him.

"I think we give them detention," Draco says, finally answering her. "It seems wrong to do that on the first night back though."

"How many students are going to leave their dorms on the first night anyways?"

"Hopefully not a lot." They go through all four of the floors that they were told to go down and don't find anyone. They begin walking back down to their rooms.

"See you tomorrow Granger," Draco says, opening his door.

"See you in the morning Malfoy," she says, closing her door.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hermione expected that being a professor would be fulfilling. She didn't expect to be wracked with nerves. While eating breakfast her hands were shaking, and she almost spilt her oatmeal on herself in front of all of the students. And then when she was handing out schedules, she gave a first year a third year schedule because they had the same first name and she didn't even think about two of the students in her house to have the same name. Luckily enough the Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh years were her first period so Ginny was able too calm her nerves.

She was correct to assume that they didn't really need to be taught anything. She turned their period into a study hall type thing because she didn't know what else to do. The sixth years were her second period and they also didn't need to take that class so she did the same for their class. When the first years came into the room she could tell that some of them were nervous like her. Hermione told them what they would be doing through out the year and then let them ask questions, taking it easy on them for the first day.

"Are you really friends with Harry Potter? Did you really help defeat Voldemort?" a boy with brown hair from Slytherin asks.

"Yes I am friends with Harry. Yes I helped defeat Voldemort. I was the brains of the golden trio."

"Is it true what Professor Malfoy said about you? That you used to have hair that was super curly and it looked like a afro that wouldn't stay up?" a Gryffindor girl asks. Hermione is to shocked to answer for a minute. She knew Malfoy wouldn't be able to change that fast. It is better than what he once called her all those years ago but it still hurts her.

"I did have super curly hair but it did not look anything like a afro." All of the kids slouch in their seats. "You are all dismissed," Hermione says. When all of them are gone she makes her way down to the potions room and walks in. Malfoy is sitting at his desk, reading something when she bursts into the otherwise empty classroom.

"They asked you about it?"

"Of course they asked me about it! Why would you say that Malfoy? After apologizing for what you said you then go and say that?"

"Calm down would you? I want to seem like the cool professor, thats all. You already are because of who you are."

"So you make fun of other professors?"

"I wasn't making fun of you. I was stating a opinion."

"Two can play at that game Malfoy," Hermione says woking out of the room. By the next day all of the first and second years were asking her the same question. So she decided to tell them about him.

"Did he tell you about the time he was turned into a weasel?" They class starts laughing.

"Why?" Lucy, a first year Gryffindor asks.

"He was making fun of Harry in our fourth year. A man was drinking polyjuice potions to look like Mad Eye Moody, that part is a long story so I'm not going to explain it. So when Harry was walking away from Malfoy, Moody walked up and told Harry to "Never turn his back to his enemy" before he transfigured Malfoy into a weasel. He made him go down one persons shirt and another of his friends pants before the headmistress, who was just a professor then, came and turned him back." The whole classroom bursts out laughing, making Hermione glad that she told them near the end of class because she can't bring them back.

"What happened to the real Moody when all of this happened?" someone asks, Hermione isn't sure who.

"That is too long of a story. If I explained that then I would have to explain our whole fourth year for it to make any sense. I'll tell you about it sometime. I want you to tell everyone you know about the story I told you, alright?" Hermione says, with a smile on her face. They all leave the classroom, looking very happy that they know something that the rest of the school doesn't know.

Hermione sits at her desk with a smile on her face, picturing the face Malfoy will make when he finds out that she told that story. He will be so mad but Hermione knows it will be worth it. He started it, maybe this will end it. She can always tell about the time she punched him, or when Harry beat him, when he screamed like a girl in the forbidden forest, there are so many options.

At dinner that evening Hermione has trouble acting normal around him, because he hasn't heard the story yet. Ginny catches her eye and shakes her head, with a smile on her face. Hermione just grins back. She knows that Ginny will tell Harry about it tonight but she thinks she knows what he will say. He will like that she got up the gets to tell that story, even if he and Malfoy are on talking terms.

"What is going on with you today?" Malfoy asks as they are walking to their chambers.

"Nothing. But perhaps if I did have something that I wasn't telling you, maybe you would find out sometime tomorrow," Hermione says, in a voice that doesn't seem like hers.

"What did you do Granger?" Malfoy asks as they reach the doors of their rooms.

"I stated a fact," Hermione says, walking into the room and closing the door without looking him.

* * *

In the morning Hermione wakes up with a grin on her face, she can't help it. She makes her way to the great hall and runs into Ginny, who is rubbing her eyes.

"How are you awake," she mumbles.

"I keep picturing Malfoy's face when he finds out what I told the first and second years." This makes Ginny perk up a bit.

"I can't believe you told them that story! Of all the stories that you could of said you do that one first. You should of done the one where you punched him."

"If he says something else about me I will. I have a whole list of things to say about him." The two of them walk into the great hall and Hermione goes to sit at the Gryffindor table by instinct.

"Shouldn't you be at the professors table?" Ginny asks, with a huge smile on her face.

"Yes, I suppose I should. I think I will ask if I can sit here sometimes. I need to talk to you later about the quiditch team, captain," Hermione says, standing up and walking away before she can reply. Hermione sits at the table next to Malfoy, who must of showed up when she was sitting with Ginny.

"Any chance you will tell me about what you did?" he asks, as cooly as he can.

"Not a chance," Hermione replies, looking at him after taking bite of her apple cinnamon oat meal.

"I didn't know Gryffindors could be so secretive."

"I guess Slytherins aren't as sly as I have heard." Malfoy is staring at her, and Hermione is staring right back. _Are we really having a_ _stare-off,_ Hermione asks herself. And they really were, right there in front of all of the students. Ginny is the only one who notices, and she can't help but grin a little bit because she had a feeling something like this would happen. This is only the beginning.

They finally look away at the same time, and don't look at each other for the rest of the meal. Hermione talks to Ginny about the plans for the quiditch team for the period that she has her in. When the first year Gryffindors come in they begin telling her all about their potions class. Apparently know body said anything about it to him so when they burst into random fits of after all class he was very confused. When the second years come in, she isn't sure what houses, they say that asked him about it. And he almost exploded. Draco comes bursting into her room during her free period, and apparently his as well, and slams his fist onto her desk.

"How could you? Of all the things you could of told them, you tell them that!" he shouts.

"Well if it helps, you are now very popular," Hermione says, leaning back in her seat. "If you think about it, I actually helped you."

"You told them I went down someones pants!"

"You did go down someones pants."

"I have nothing else against you. Now I'm going to look like the weak one."

"We both know you have a ton of stuff against me. The time I turned into a cat, and that time... Okay, I guess that's the only other one. And I do have a lot of stuff against you."

"How much stuff?" he asks, pulling a chair over.

"A lot. But I can't tell you or you would turn it into something else."

"That was me being sly and it didn't work so lets try something else. A truce?"

"That was you being sly? I'm more sly than that!"

"I have been in my house for a year, so I am a little rusty," he says, making Hermione snort.

"A truce. You don't say anything about me, I won't say anything about you."

"Deal," he says, holding his hand out. They shake on it. "So how are your classes going?"

"I don't even have to teach the sixth and seventh years so they have a study hall that period. The fifth years are on a advanced course. The rest of them are at the normal pace but the first years are very loud."

"They will get better soon hopefully. I find that annoying too. There has already been three explosions and today was the first potion they made."

"I don't remember ever being like that."

"You never were. It was always the Finnigan guy and Neville. And me sometimes. Just not in potions."

"True. I think you were the worst in that flying class our first year," she says, with a grin on her face. She has been doing that a lot lately, grinning.

"I was good at flying. I probably shouldn't hove taken that ball thing and thrown it though."

"You definitely shouldn't of taken it! But if you hadn't Harry wouldn't of got onto the team his first year."

"Maybe Slytherin would have won if her hadn't."

"I guess we will never know."

"I guess not." Some students in Hermione's next class start filtering into the room. "I guess I should go. I can't leave them standing for to long," Draco says, standing up.

"See you at dinner," Hermione replies. A Ravenclaw girl comes and asks her a question but she can't help noticing that Draco looks back at her before he leaves. She doesn't really understand what she is feeling but it is something she hasn't felt since her first kiss with Ron.

* * *

Draco and Hermione talk through all of dinner about the most random of things. Hermione isn't even sure how anything they talked about got brought into the conversation. They have rounds that night and talk about anything not personal. They don't ask each other about family things or what they did after the war, they talk about favorite books, and Hermione tells him about some muggle books that he has to read.

Hermione was surprised to find out that he likes to read, and that he has read almost all the books she has. Before Draco goes back to his room after they check the first four floors she invites him into her room so she can get one of the muggle books for him. He follows her in and she looks around the shelves for the one particular book. She finally spots it and brings it to him excitedly.

"Here it is. It's called 'The Princess Bride.' I think you will like it." She hands it to him and he eyes it for a minute.

"What is it about?"

"Love. It has giants, sword fights, death, it is a really good story. We will have to plan a time to watch the movie in the muggle world."

"And if I don't like it?"

"I will get you a different one to read, I have a lot."

"Alright. Goodnight Hermione," he says, walking towards her door. Hermione follows him.

"Goodnight Draco," she says, closing the door when he goes into his room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Draco sits down next to Hermione the next the morning and slams the book down on the table next to her. It makes Hermione jump in her seat and all of the other professors look towards them.

"What was that for?"

"I finished it," he says, dropping his head into his hands.

"Did you like it?"

"Yes I liked it. I stayed up of most of the night reading it so I am mad at you right now."

"Why would you stay up all night? We up late doing rounds so you must of gone to sleep around four or five in the morning."

"I know. Next time give me the book in the morning."

"Here, have my coffee, you need it more than I do," she says, pushing her mug toward him. He grabs it and starts drinking while Hermione starts eating her waffle.

"Thank you," he says, finishing the cup quickly.

"No problem." Hermione goes to her classroom when she is done eating to get all of her things ready for her classes later, knowing Ginny will want to talk to her about something that will require all of her attention. Of course she was right, but it wasn't what she thought they would be talking about.

"You are starting to like him, aren't you?"

"No, I am not. At least not in the way you are thinking. As a friend, sure, but as something else? No."

"Hermione, you two were talking all night last night! He said something that made your cheeks turn a little bit red, and you are acting like you were when you were with Ron. You are more carefree, and happy, and you have this certain smile that is almost always on your face."

"I do not," Hermione says, looking down, trying to hide her blush.

"Hermione, it's okay. If you are happy then everyone will be happy for you."

"So? I don't like him like that."

"Yes you do. Or you are starting to at least." Ginny grins, knowing that she is right.

"Maybe just a teeny tiny bit. But it's not enough to get past all the things that he has said and done to me. Not yet at least."

"I can help you. I will be very subtle about it, don't worry."

"Do not do anything Ginny. I can always give you detention."

"But you wouldn't. I am your best friend after all."

"I think Harry might be my best friend."

"Then I am your girl best friend. Even though that sounds a lot like first or second years," she says. They both start laughing.

"You have to go to your next class," Hermione says, realizing what time it is.

"I will see you later."

"Don't do it Ginny," Hermione calls as Ginny leaves the room.

She is having the first years take notes, telling the second years about pixies, and having the third years deal with a bogart, like Remus had them do third year. After all they have been through, Hermione thinks that they are mature enough to deal with it. She is having the fourth and fifth years do the same thing, just because she won't be able to get another Bogart for a ling time.

The day goes quickly, like all the others have so far, and before she knows it she is sitting alone in her classroom, waiting for dinner. She makes sure the lesson plans are all ready to go of the rest of the week then sits. Hermione pulls out a book about different wizards life's in different countries. She would love to go to America or Spain maybe. Maybe one day she will be able to.

A knock on her door drags her out of her book.

"Come in," she calls, putting her book in a draw. Draco walks in and pulls up a chair next to her desk.

"I didn't know that it could be so boring being a professor. I thought they always had something to do."

"I might have to assign homework early so that I have something to do," Hermione replies.

"Same. I don't even know what to assign to them though. I don't want to be like my godfather and give them stupid long assignments about nothing."

"I can help you out if you want. I have all of the classes planned out for a few months."

"When did you have time to do that?" Draco asks, a bewildered look on his face.

"Before the term started. Didn't you at least think about it?"

"At first. Probably not as much as I should have. I had some stuff going on," he says, looking down.

"What was it?"

"Family stuff. Maybe I will tell you about it sometime."

"But not right now?"

"No. I can't yet. I made a promise to my mother that I wouldn't mention it for a few weeks at the least."

"Alright. Let's talk about something else. Do you want another book to read?"

"Yes, another of those muggle books. I didn't expect it to be as good as it was."

"I'm glad you liked it. It is one of my favorite muggle books."

"I feel like every book is your favorite."

"Not all of them. A large amount, yes." Draco laughs. "How about I give you another one tomorrow, so you don't stay up all night again."

"That would probably be for the best," he says, with a sigh.

"We should go to the great hall before we are late. Minerva will give us extra duties."

"We wouldn't want that," he says in a serious voice, but Hermione catches a hint of some other meaning behind his words.

Hermione feels a little awkward while they are eating but she does her best not to show it. When she is in her room later that evening she lays on her couch and puts her arm over her eyes. She doesn't know what to do. She has these feelings that are growing deep inside of her and she sort of wants to let them go. But what if she is misreading this whole situation? What if Draco is only acting like this because Neville and Luna haven't forgiven him so she is the only one he can hang out with?

* * *

In the morning Hermione takes her place next to Draco and hands him the book she picked out for him.

"'To Kill a Mockingbird'?"

"It is a classic book, mostly in America, but it is very good."

"Why do you want me to read a book that is classic in another country?"

"Because it is a good book! You wanted me to pick out a book and I did. If you don't like it after the first chapter I will get a different one, just like I would of done last time."

"It better be good," He says, taking bite of his bacon. Hermione looks at her own food but she doesn't feel like eating for some reason. She moves the food around on her plate the whole time instead of eating.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asks her. They are sitting in her classroom and Hermione has know idea what Ginny just said.

"Yeah, sorry. I just spaced out for a second."

"A second? I have been trying to get your attention for the last ten minutes!"

"Really? I guess I am more out of it than I thought. I am fine though," Hermione adds, seeing the look Ginny is giving her.

"You are really pale Mione. Are you sure? Let me touch your head," she says, standing up and coming over to her.

"Ginny, I am fine. I don't need you feel my head." Hermione bats Ginny's hands away.

"If you were fine you would let me feel your forehead to make sure." Hermione sighs but lets her do it. "You are burning up Hermione. You must have what a lot of people are getting since being back at school. You should go see Poppy."

"I can't, I have classes to teach. I feel fine, honestly Ginny. You don't need to worry about me."

"You are sick! You need to rest. I'm sure Minerva would understand."

"I am not sick. I am just a little bit warmer than usual. Thats all. And you need to get to your next class."

"I am going to come check on you when I can," Ginny says, picking up her things.

"You don't need to."

"I'm going to." Ginny walks out of the room.

Hermione is able to make it to the last period of the day, and she felt worse and worse every minute. She locks up her room and makes her way down to the dungeon. The door is open so she walks in. The room is very different to what she remembers. It is brighter, Draco has put more lights up, and the desks are farther apart, making it feel more spacious.

Hermione sits in Draco's chair, it being the most comfortable in the room, and leans her head back, closing her eyes. Draco walks out of the storage room, surprised to see her sitting in his chair.

"What are you down here Hermione?"

"Do you have any potions to help with headaches?"

"I can check. You don't look to good." Hermione hears shuffling things around.

"So I've been told. Do you have anything for nausea and fevers?"

"You have the cold that the students are getting, don't you?"

"No. I haven't been sick in ages. It is just stress I think." Hermione feels him put his hand on her forehead.

"You are burning Hermione. You should go get rest."

"I can't. We have rounds tonight. And classes tomorrow."

"Hermione, you aren't going to get better unless you rest."

"There is only two more days until the weekend. I can make it until then."

"I'm sorry, but I disagree with you. I'm sure when Minerva looks at you she will agree."

"Then I won't let her see me. Do you have a potion?" she asks, opening her eyes and looking at him. He hands over the vial.

"It isn't as strong as what Poppy would have but it should hopefully work for the rest of the evening." Hermione swallows it in one gulp then stands up quickly.

"Thank you Draco. We should get to the great hall, it's almost time to eat." While they are eating, Hermione can feel both Draco and Ginny watching her through the whole meal. She feels it wearing off when they begin doing their rounds on the second floor, but she does her best to not let Draco notice. After they have finished Hermione flops onto her bed and falls asleep almost immediately.

* * *

Hermione forces herself out of bed the next morning. She gets ready very slowly, a knock on the door making her speed up. She opens it to see Draco leaning on the wall next to her door.

"Ready to go to the great hall?" he asks, standing up straight.

"Almost. I need to find my shoes. You can come in if you want," she says, coughing into her elbow after saying it. Draco follows her in, a concerned look on his face.

"Still sick?"

"Yes. It's worse than yesterday I think." She sits down on her couch and starts tying a pair of tennis shoes, to out of it to try to look like a teacher today.

"You should rest."

"I told you I can't." Hermione stands up fast, making her vision spin. She reaches out for the back for the back of the couch for support but Draco grabs her arm.

"Come on, I'll help you get there." He wraps her arm around his waist and puts his around hers. They begin walking to the great hall.

"People are going to get the wrong idea."

"Maybe, maybe not. It's not like Rita Skeeter is here to put us in the newspaper. If anyone asks I will say you tripped because of the shoes."

"That would be better if I was wearing really tall heels."

"I admit it's not perfect. Do you have anything better?" She is silent for a moment.

"Not at the moment." Hermione lifts up her arm and sneezes into it.

"Start laughing," he whispers into her ear. Hermione does what he says as the enter the main hall to get to the great hall. They are greeted with a bright flash of light, making them jump apart.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy," Minerva says, walking over to them. "Rita Skeeter is here to write a article on how Hogwarts is doing after reopening. Did you not get the message I sent you?"

"No, I'm afraid we didn't," Hermione says, looking at Draco.

"Well then I am sorry for what will be happening to you. Have a good day," she says, walking away.

"How long have you been together?" Skeeter asks, walking towards them.

"Oh, no, we aren't-" Hermione starts, getting interrupted by Draco.

"Two months," he says to her. "Go with it," he whispers to Hermione. She gives him a confused look.

"How is it going? How did it start?"

"We have duties to attend to, I'm sure you understand." Draco puts his hand on the small of Hermione's back and leads her to their seats.

"What are you doing?" Hermione says after sitting, smacking his arm.

"She would say we were together anyways, you know how she is. This way we can just fake it for a month or two then say that we broke up."

"I am starting to not like you again."

"It gives me an excuse to help you from falling over or puking in public."

"I don't feel like arguing right now. But we will, don't doubt that."

"I won't. Are you going to eat those eggs?" Hermione pushes her plate towards him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hermione sits at her desk with her head leaning back on her chair, eyes closed, listening to Ginny talking about how much she misses Harry. Honestly, Hermione missed him too. It has been so strange to not have him here, the three of them were always together at Hogwarts and being here without either of them has been harder than she thought. She is glad that Ginny, Neville, and Luna are here at least, even if she hasn't seen Luna and Neville. Draco may or may not be added to that list later but she is mad at him for letting Rita Skeeter think that they were a couple.

"Hermione, are you even listening? Did Skeeter get to you already? She is going to be after me soon I think, with Harry and I doing this long distance thing."

"I think you will be fine Ginny, but she has gotten to me," Hermione says with a sigh, only now opening her eyes and looking at Ginny.

"What happened?"

"I guess I am more sick than I thought and this morning I was feeling dizzy so Draco was helping me get to the great hall. She got a picture of us with Draco's arms around my waste!"

"What?" Ginny asks, very loudly.

"I know. And then she started asking about how long we were together and instead of denying it he said we have been together for a month or two, I don't remember which."

"So now you guys are together?" Ginny asks, with a huge smile on his face. "I really want to see this picture."

"Why? That's not the problem."

"I want to see if you guys look good together. Honestly Mione, I don't see the big deal. You haven't even thought about seeing other guys since Ron and you broke up. Maybe he will bring you out of your comfort zone."

"But we aren't actually together Ginny."

"So? Just get to know him more."

"Can't I get to know him without pretending to be his girlfriend? He has this whole plan where we make a few public appearances and then have a public breakup somewhere."

"Well there you go. Stop worrying about it and just follow his lead on this one. You make enough plans as it is."

"I do not. And you have to go."

"If I didn't actually have to leave we would still be talking about this. I hope feel better soon." Everyone grabs there things and leaves the classroom. Hermione is thankful for a small break in between her classes, she really does feel terrible today. Draco walked her to her classroom with his hand on the small of her back the whole way to help her incase she got to dizzy. It was a distraction which she was very happy for, but his touch sent goosebumps up her back.

"Professor Granger, are all right?" a student asks. She didn't hear anyone walking into the room and jumps in surprise.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking," Hermione says, with a small smile.

She has the class take notes today, not feeling good enough to stand up at all. They talk amongst themselves, not really doing the notes. She doesn't care though, as long as they don't get to loud. She does her best to not let her mind wander to earlier but she is just so mad at him for it that it just won't stop coming to the surface of her mind. The thing is, she knows that deep down, that isn't the only reason for why he is still on her mind.

* * *

"So here is what I was thinking, we go to Hogsmead next weekend and make it the first public appearance. Then we go to dinner sometime, and after the holidays we plan the public breakup," Draco says. He came to check on her during their free period with another vial of medicine for her that he made during his classes.

"Why wait until after the holidays? We could be done with this in three weeks."

"Everyone will be asking you about how you feel being dumped so close to the holidays, and I wouldn't break up with anyone that close to them."

"They are months away though Draco."

"Do you want to be in the head lines three weeks in a row or spread it out a little?" he asks, knowing that he had won by the look on Hermione's face.

"Right after the holidays Draco."

"Alright, alright," he says, standing up and walking to the door for his next class. "One more thing," he says, looking back after opening the door. "We will have to kiss at least once."

"What?" Hermione shouts out, as Draco slips out the door.

* * *

"Smile everyone," Skeeter says to all of the staff. She came up with this idea to take a picture of them all together, to show how happy they are at Hogwarts. "Mr. Malfoy, get closer to Hermione, maybe put your arms around each other." Draco does as she suggests, making Hermione sigh, but she does her best to conceal it with a smile as she puts her hands over Draco's.

"Get used to this Hermione, I will have to do it a lot," he whispers into her ear, sending goosebumps down her spine.

"You better not get used to it," she replies, smiling as the picture is taken. Hermione catches a glimpse of red hair, and Skeeter must to because she rushes off.

"Come on Hermione, we need to make this look real."

"I only let Ron hold my hand in public."

"Yeah, but how serious were you guys?"

"Not very serious I guess, at least not from his perspective since he was able to cheat on me." Hermione freezes. She hasn't told anyone that Ron cheated, not even Ginny. She didn't want the Weasley's to have a huge falling out so she hasn't said anything. That is why she gets uncomfortable when Ginny asks her to back with Ron.

"The git cheated on you? With who?" Draco asks, looking very mad. She hasn't seen him this mad in a while.

"With Lavender. But it's not a big deal, really. I am still in the process of getting over it, but I am almost there."

"I am changing our plan for the break up. We are going to stay together for a while," he says, pulling out her chair at the table for her.

"We are not changing it at all," Hermione says, looking at the bowl of chicken noodle soup in front of her.

"Yes we are. We are going to make Ron the most jealous man in England." Hermione looks over at him with shock written on her face.

"No we aren't. He is with Lavender now so there is nothing to worry about anyways."

"Did it hurt you when you found out?" Hermione looks down, silently confirming his question. "Like I said, we have another plan."

* * *

"It's worse than I thought it was going to be," Hermione says, barging into Draco's room the next morning.

"You got yours already? Let me see." Right on the cover in bold it says ' **Slytherin prince and Gryffindor princes in love'.** Below it is a article about wha Skeeter saw, but of course she added that they kissed right before the picture was taken and that they seam truly in love, never taking their eyes off of each other. "It could of been worse," he says, setting it down.

"It could of been worse? Draco, all of my friends now think that I have hidden a relationship from them for months! She said we have been together since I broke up with Ron! How could it get worse?"

"She could of said that I had my hands somewhere I shouldn't of had them in a school but she didn't. And she didn't say that you looked like you were about to puke the whole day."

"Oh, stop it Draco," Hermione says, flopping onto the couch. Draco hands her a vial and Hermione downs it in one swallow.

"We should go before we are late. You always have being late." Hermione glares at him as she stands up. "Soon you can hide in your chambers and not see my face for two days to get over it. That is the best I can offer."

"It would be better if I could turn you into a weasel again."

"Not happening."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

For the next few days everyone is staring at her and watching her, both of them really, but Hermione is more uncomfortable with it than Draco appears to be. She hates it all the same, the feeling of being stared at is one of the worst in her opinion. Draco seems to be thriving in all the attention though, acting like it is the most normal thing in the world to have people whispering about you and pointing at you as you walk past. She should be more used to this, considering that she is a member of the golden trio and is almost always stared at anyways, but this is a different. It's not people staring because they know she did something great that saved their life, it's the kind of stare where you can tell people are judging you.

Maybe she is reading more into it because she is finally getting over the cold, the weekend did help, but she just can't get over it. She still can't look at Draco without feeling anger and hatred towards him. It is so hard to act like a couple when your emotions go from hating that persons guts to maybe being friends to being angry. Reporters have been standing at the gates, trying to get onto the grounds, but Minerva has been very strict with them.

Draco would like to go out and give them a show, get more headlines, but Hermione has been refusing, and her mind won't be changing. In her opinion, it's bad enough that they have to go out to Hogsmeade this weekend. She can tell that Draco still thinks this is some kind of game, which infuriates her even more and h knows it.

"Hermione, can you come to he dungeons sometime today?" Draco asks. It's Monday morning and everyone in the great hall looks exhausted. Hermione is the only one who seems present, she wakes up at the same time every day so she is doesn't feel tired waking up for classes.

"I may be able to come down before dinner tonight but I have to write to Harry during my free period."

"Why? Weaslet writes to him four times a day."

"She is his girlfriend, I am his friend, that makes it very different. And he wrote to me when the article came out but I didn't feel like replying because I was sick."

"You didn't actually have to defend yourself to me."

"You asked, I answered," Hermione says, shrugging it off. "Why do you want me to go to the dungeons anyways?"

"I'm having some of the older students make a potion that I want you to check out. I think you will like it."

"What potion?"

"I want you to figure it out. I think you will get it pretty easily."

* * *

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I got a cold, which I know seems impossible because I never get sick, but I just couldn't really focus on anything. I know that you were probably pretty shocked when you saw_ _the paper, and I promise that I will tell you everything the next time I see you but I must tell you in person. To be honest, I am still wary of the Ministry checking letters. My next class is starting soon so I must end the letter but I have so much more to tell you. This is going to be the only letter I write today though, I know you and Ginny talk all the time, she tells me everything._

 _Your friend, Hermione Granger_

She ties the note to a owl and gives it a little treat before it flies away in a flurry. She makes her way back to the classroom, not really paying attention to where she is going, when she runs into something hard, falling and rolling down the stairs she had been making her way up.

"Granger, you really should look where you are going," Draco says mockingly, extending his hand to help her up.

"You should also, if you had been looking where you were going you could of avoided me." Hermione takes his hand and he helps her to her feet.

"Doesn't help that you weren't looking," he says, making Hermione glare slightly.

"Where were you coming from anyways?"

"Minerva's office. I had to ask her something about this weekend."

"Ask her what?"

"Nothing important."

"I should get to my classroom, class is starting in a few minutes."

"You are still coming down after classes right?"

"Yes, I will come down after classes." Hermione walks around him and is about to go up the stairs when Draco grabs her arm and turns her around.

He leans down and kisses her, cupping her cheek with one hand and wrapping his other around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Hermione, to shocked to respond at first, begins kissing back, putting one hand on his shoulder and the other around his neck, deepening the kiss.

"What happened to a fake relationship?" a voice asks, making both of them jump in surprise. Hermione pulls away from him to see Ginny standing near by with her hands on her hips.

"It was practice for the weekend," Draco says quickly, looking at Hermione who is as red as Ginny's hair.

"That kiss was more than just a practice kiss," Ginny says, looking at both of them accusingly. "One, or both of you, has feelings for the other," she says, walking away. They both watch her go in silence.

"She likes to look for things that aren't actually there," Hermione says, trying to explain what Ginny just said.

"Yeah, you are probably right. You know her better than I do." Hermione goes up a few steps. "You only kissed me because Ginny was coming right?" she asks to Draco's back. He turns back to look at her, a small smile on his face, before turning around and continuing to walk to the dungeons.

* * *

Hermione locks her classroom door before she starts walking to the dungeons, the kiss from earlier on her mind still. She doesn't know why she kissed back, at first she thought it was just the heat of the moment, but she knows that she is just lying to herself. She enjoyed the kiss, it was actually one of the best kisses she has ever had, and she would like to kiss him again if it was going to be like that. But she can't let Draco know that, he would just take it to his head.

In the dungeons, Draco is pacing in front of a cauldron, also thinking about the kiss between the two of them. He didn't kiss her because Ginny was coming, he had know idea she was near them. He just really wanted to kiss her. It was a moment of weakness, a bad one, and he isn't sure that regrets it. Actually, he knows that he doesn't regret it. If only he could do it again. Now she is going to be on guard and won't let him try anything.

Hermione knocking on the door drags them both out of there thoughts since Hermione wasn't really paying attention and just knocked on instinct. She goes in the room, not waiting for a response to see that Draco was about to open the door. They stand where they are for a minute, not sure what to do exactly.

"What did you want to show me?" Hermione finally asks, breaking the ice between them.

"Yeah, it's right over here in the cauldron," he says, gesturing to where it is on one of the tables. Hermione walks over to i and smells it, knowing what it is immediately.

"A love potion. Why did you want me to come down to see a love potion?"

"I was never sure if they were completely brewed. I am fine with everything else but I just always have trouble with this one." Hermione leans over the it, taking a very deep breath.

"Come here," she says, looking at Draco who is still standing by the door. He walks over slowly and takes a deep breath, his eyes never leaving Hermione's. "What do you smell?"

"The pages of old books mostly."

"I smell mint and the smell that you get when you first walk into a library. That is how you know if it is correct, if two people smell something different. And it has to be pink, not red." Draco walks around the table to Hermione, making her turn around so she can see him. He brings his head to her neck and sniffs very loudly, making Hermione sigh in relief. She thought he might be about to kiss her again, she wishes he had.

"Do you want to know what you smell like?" he asks, whispering it into her ear. Hermione nods her head, her hands shaking. He is about to tell her when a knock on the door interrupts them. "Come in," he says, taking a step away from her. She doesn't take her eyes off of him while he is talking to the student. He keeps glancing over to her, making her blush but she doesn't look away. After what feels like a eternity, the student leaves, closing the door behind themselves.

Draco comes over to Hermione, almost at a run, and grabs the back of her head, pulling her to him. Their lips meet, sending shockwaves through Hermione, as she wraps her arms around his neck, pulling herself even closer to him. When they break apart, both out of breath, he wrests his forehead on her's. Hermione can't help the grin that spreads across her face.

"We should go to dinner or we will be late," Draco whispers, wrapping his arms around her waist. She wraps hers around his neck.

"Probably. They would get ideas if we didn't get there soon."

"Do you want to?" Hermione asks in whisper.

"Do I want to what?"

"Giving us a real try? Taking us seriously?"

"I want to. Do you want to?" Hermione nods her head, biting her bottom lip.

"We have rounds tonight."

"If I recall, we have a hour after dinner before them."

"I think we do." Hermione begins walking backwards, and Draco follows her step by step. "We should really go." Draco nods, still not letting go of her. "We can talk more about us later, or very quietly while we are eating." Draco starts kissing her neck, making Hermione run into a wall from distraction. Hermione starts laughing and pushing him away, making him very confused.

"What is it?"

"I will tell you after I have taken a bite of food," Hermione says, with a smile on her face. She grabs Draco by the hand and pulls him after her.

When they sit at the table, everyone that is in the great hall is staring at them. Neither of them is really paying attention though, they are more infatuated with each other, not taking their eyes off each other. Hermione can't seem to help it. She was kind of like this after kissing Ron for the first time but she didn't feel it in later kisses.

With Draco, it is already different. She feels butterflies in her stomach just looking at him. She knows that she shouldn't feel like this, they just said they were willing to give it a try a few minutes ago, but she can't help it.

Draco is sitting as close to her as he could get without the students really noticing. Their knees are slightly touching, and Hermione really wishes she could bring their legs together even more. Draco finishes eating faster than usual and puts his hand over one of hers, rubbing it slightly with his thumb.

"So this weekend is going to be a actual first date?" Hermione asks, taking a bite of her food.

"Yes. And the plan is still to get Ron jealous."

"Why?"

"It's more of a game really. Especially if you and I are going to be an actual couple." Draco looks at her, daring her to object.

"Did you ever date anyone?"

"Sure, I dated a lot of people."

"I don't mean like that. I mean a serious relationship."

"No. Unless you count Pansy. She still thinks we have some kind of relationship going on."

If anyone had seen Hermione and Draco when they were doing the rounds they would of thought that the two of them had slipped love potions to each other. Draco holds her hand for most of the time they are doing the rounds. If they aren't holding hands, Draco has his arms around her waist, or Hermione has hers wrapped around his neck.

Draco stands beside her while she unlocks the door to her chambers. He is leaning casually against the wall, one of his hands on her hips.

"Goodnight Draco," Hermione says, turning to face him.

"I will be here in the morning," he says. He pulls her close and kisses her, very sweetly and lightly, on the lips.

"Be early," Hermione says, pulling away and stepping into her room. She closes her door slowly, watching Draco as he walks to his room. She leans against her and closes her eyes. What is happening to her?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Hermione is standing in front of her closet, looking for something appropriate to wear on her date with Draco. Ginny is laying on her bed, not actually helping her like she is supposed to be doing. Hermione runs her hand through her hair in frustration.

"If you were going to freak out about this, why didn't you pick it out earlier?"

"I was just going to put jeans and a t-shrt on but Draco said that I had to wear something that would make anyone jealous. I thought you might be able to help me."

"I told you I could but I did't expect you to have nothing suitable for a date."

"I didn't expect to go on any date."

"There is the problem. You always need to think about a possible date."

"Please help me Ginny. I have to meet him in fifteen minutes." Ginny sighs, standing up and rifling through the closet.

"How about I transfigure a dress, these purple leggings, and black boots."

"Perfect. See, I knew you could help me." Ginny hands her all of the clothes and Hermione heads to the bathroom to change.

"I take it you and Draco have become a couple?" Ginny asks, sitting down on the bed to wait for her.

"You already knew that Gin. It was all over the papers," Hermione replies, trying to deflect what Ginny is really asking. She walks out of the bathroom and grabs a leather jacket that Ginny brought with her. "What do you think?"

"You look amazing, I honestly didn't know you could look that good. Why didn't you wear something like this when you were with Ron? Maybe you two would still be together."

"I doubt it," Hermione says, looking at the floor. "Thank you for helping me. I will give you the jacket back later."

"Keep it, it looks better on you than it did on me. Harry will get me another one."

"Did you tell him about the kiss?"

"No. I really wanted to though, I still might actually. I think you guys are a actual couple."

"Ginny, please don't say anything. Right now you are the only person who even knew that we were faking it."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Ginny replies, a huge grin on her face.

"I have to go meet him," Hermione says, looking at the clock. Ginny stands up.

"He isn't meeting you at the door?"

"He might be, I haven't opened the door yet." They walk out of the bedroom and to the door before Ginny turns around and looks at Hermione again.

"I would be surprised if you even leave this hall," she says with a grin on her face.

"Ginny," Hermione exclaims. Ginny practically runs out of the room rather than face Hermione after that comment. Hermione goes to follow her when Draco's door opens and when he sees her, he takes a minute to look at all of her.

"Wow, Hermione," he says, finally looking her in the eyes.

"Should I change? Is it to much?" she asks, looking down at herself. Draco walks over and cups her face in his hand, pecking her on the lips.

"I think you should wear something like this more often. It looks good on you." Hermione's cheeks begin to redden from embarrassment.

"You look quite good as well Malfoy," she says, running her hands along her arms.

"I do look good don't I," he says, looking down at himself with a smirk on his face. Hermione smacks his arm playfully before walking away from him.

"You can still be the same Malfoy that I went to school with sometimes," she says when Draco catches up to her.

"It takes time to change completely." When Hermione looks at him she can see that he looks a little hurt. She stops walking and grabs his arm.

"You don't have to change completely. I was just teasing you," she says, lifting his head up to look into his eyes.

"I would change completely for you, I will change completely for you," he replies, pulling her hand away. He turns around and starts walking again.

"Draco, just wait a second," Hermione says, catching up to him. By now they are about to go outside so Hermione puts a warming charm on herself and Draco. Draco stops for a second so they can walk out together incase photographers have managed to get in. "Draco, listen to me for just a second please," she says, grabbing his hand.

"We have to go, Minerva will be waiting for us."

"If I don't say it now I will tell you when we get to Hogsmeade. It would be better now so you wouldn't have to fake being happy as much."

"You always were persistent," he mutters. "What do you want to tell me?"

"I wanted to tell you that I don't want you to completely change before you walked away. You already have changed from how you were in school. I might not like you if you changed any more than you already have," she says, smiling at the last part.

"You sound so mad yet you manage to tease me at the end. You have a talent." Hermione glares at him.

"That is how you respond after I say something serious?"

"No, that was just the first thing I said," he says, pulling her to him. He leans down and kisses her, somehow making it passionate and sweet at the same time. "That is what I would do next." He puts his head on top of hers. "Thank you," he says very softly, almost to softly for Hermione to hear. She squeezes his arm before pulling away.

"Don't we have something to do?"

"As a matter of fact, we do." He holds out his arm and Hermione wraps hers around it.

They go outside and when they get within a few meters of the gate, cameras start flashing. Hermione tightens her grip on Draco's hand and he squeezes her hand back, trying to reassure her. She puts a smile on her face when she sees the first camera. Minerva is standing close by to keep them from getting onto the grounds. All the reporters start asking questions and taking a ton of pictures, waiting for them to do something that could be on the cover.

"Don't say anything, just smile," Draco whispers into her ear, seeing that Hermione has gotten a bit paler. He wraps his arm around her waist and they push their way through the crowd. When they get through, Hermione thinks that it is over, they made it through and now they will be more discreet when following them and taking pictures. But the photographers just follow them, jostling each other of the best view.

"Draco, when will they go?" she asks, loud enough for him to hear but not the crowd following them.

"They aren't going to. We can go to the Three Broomsticks, they aren't aloud in." Hermione nods, not looking behind her.

When they get into the safety of the Three Broomsticks Hermione gets a seat while Draco gets the drinks. Hermione props her head in her hands, somewhat regretting leaving the castle. She is somewhat happy to be out getting fresh air and she hasn't been here since the battle, but she hates being followed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know there would be so many of them," Draco says, pushing a butterbeer across the table. She hadn't even noticed him sit down.

"It's not like there is anything you could of done. It's just, the only time that many people were following me was after the war. It just makes me claustrophobic." She takes a sip of her drink.

"We can leave after this if you want," he suggests, taking a sip of his own drink.

"No, it will be fine," she says, with a sigh. "I want to get some chocolate frogs while we are here anyways."

"You could just owl for some."

"I like looking around, they always have something else that I want to try." He nods his head. When they both finish their drinks they go back outside to get to Honeydukes, fighting through the crowd again.

"What else do you want?" Draco asks, after grabbing to many chocolate frogs for either of them to eat.

"I don't know, I don't think I can afford anything else if I'm getting all of these."

"Don't be silly Hermione. I'm getting them for you."

"What? Draco, you don't have to do that."

"This is a date. The gentleman always buys."

"You already bought the drinks, I can pay for something." Draco grabs a box of jelly beans. He tosses them to her.

"Get these for me." Hermione shakes her head, walking to the counter the counter that is surrounded by students coming here for the first time. After buying the box, she finds Draco walking aimlessly up and down the rows.

"Here you go," she says, handing him the little box. He opens it and grabs a random one, making a face right away.

"Vomit," he says, finding a garbage can and spitting it out. Hermione just laughs, watching the whole thing with amusement.

"Let me have one." Draco hands her the box and she pulls one out, plopping it onto her tongue. "Green apple," she says, happy that she didn't get a gross flavored one.

"Are you one of those people who doesn't get the bad ones?" he asks accusingly. Hermione just smiles, choosing to not answer.

"Lets go check out," she says, walking away from him.

"What should we do now?" Draco asks, before they go outside.

"Should we just go back to the castle? Or we could go look at the shrieking shack," she suggests.

"If you don't mind them following us."

"Lets go to the castle."

"We have to kiss for the camera's before we leave."

"Do we have to? They already have enough pictures of us."

"Do you not like kissing me?"

"Not in front of camera's," she says with a sigh.

"I will take the lead."

"You always do." Draco wraps a arm around her waste.

"After this we can go back to the castle. Maybe we can go to the astronomy tower and eat all of this," he says, lifting up the bag a little bit.

"That would be wonderful," she says, leaning into his chest.

"Then lets do this fast and get there. I haven't had chocolate frogs in a while." Hermione smiles, leaning up and kissing his cheek, close to the edge of his mouth. He squeezes he waist and they walk outside to more camera flashes.

They have walked a little ways down the street when Draco leans down to her ear, like he is whispering something sweet in her ear, and starts lightly tickling her side, making her smile. Hermione turns into him, making there chests touch. Draco leans down and kisses her pulling her even closer to him. Hermione puts her hand on his forearm, closing her eyes. They pull away after a few minutes and start walking back to the castle again.

* * *

Hermione is standing at the top of the astronomy tower, leaning on the railing, looking out at the lake, and see's the giant squid coming out of the water for air. She really did miss being here, Hogwarts is just so beautiful, and it really is like her home. The bag ruffling behind her drags her out of her thoughts, and she sees Draco sitting down, dangling his legs out over the edge.

"Sit with me," he says, grabbing her hand and gently tugging her down. She puts her feet over the edge as well and grabs a frog.

"Have this one," he says, handing her the one in his hand. She smiles at him, handing him hers and takes a bite of the frog.

"I had fun today," Hermione says, gently nudging his shoulder.

"Good. I did too," he says, nudging her back.

"Next time something a little more private would be nice though."

"Maybe we can plan to go to a restaurant sometime. I'm sure Minerva wouldn't mind."

"We have to wait for a little bit before asking something from her. She already is doing enough for us right now."

"What will we do until then?"

"We will have to be creative."

"I guess so." Hermione scoots closer to him and leans against him, putting her head on his shoulder. He wraps his arms around her and puts his head onto of hers.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"When are they going to talk about something other than our date?" Hermione asks. It has been a week since they went out and there has been articles in the paper about it every day. Hermione is glad they are finally off of the front page.

"It is a big deal Hermione," Draco says, popping his out of his room. "Two people that shouldn't be together, who have always had a rivalry, are together. You can't blame them for it." He fully walks out of the room in a black suit, black short, and black tie. "How do I look?"

"Like you are going to a funeral."

"I might as well be. They are going to sentence him to a dementours kiss, might as well dress like it is a funeral."

"Why do you have to go to the hearing anyways? I thought he already had one."

"He did but they weren't sure what to do yet. They are announcing his sentencing today. And my mother is insisting that I go." Hermione stands from the couch and walks into his room, going to his closet and beginning to look through it. Draco puts his hands on her hips and squeezes.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with?"

"So he can yell at you and call you a muddled? No, I don't think it's a good idea. And my mother will be in a mood even though she doesn't love him. I think she should be in a better mood when she meets you for the first time." Hermione grabs a white button up shirt and turns around in his arms.

"Put this on."

"Help me?" Draco asks, with a small smirk on his face. Hermione slowly undoes his tie then wraps it around his neck, pulling him close to her.

"Last time I checked, you had fingers," Hermione says, letting go of the tie and walking out of the room, leave Draco looking confused. Hermione flops onto the couch, once again looking at the article.

"Are you sure this looks alright?" Draco says, walking out without a shirt on. Hermione grabs a throw pillow and throws it at him.

"Go put your shirt or you will be late."

"Will you walk with me to the gate?"

"Of course. I was going to anyways." Hermione stands up and walks to the door, crossing her arms.

"Well?" he asks, coming over to her. Hermione pretends to pick some flint from his shoulder then turns him around to check on his back.

"Perfect," she says. Draco turns around, leans down, kisses her. It is a sweet kiss, slow yet passionate.

They break apart and begin walking down the corridors to the gate so he can apparate to the ministry of magic. Hermione holds his hand the whole way, trying to reassure him. He may not be showing it, but Hermione can tell that he is nervous about it. He has been acting like his old self more and more over the last few days, so that is why she has assumed he is nervous.

"Come find me when you get back, okay?" Hermione asks, before he goes to apparate.

"I will." Hermione wraps her arms around him and hugs him, and hugs back, very tightly.

* * *

 _Dear Hermione,_

 _It was nice to hear from you, it is so strange not being able to just go to your apartment and talking to you. I was kind of surprised when I saw that you and Draco were together but when the pictures of the date showed up I saw the look in both of your eyes. It seems like you two make each other happy. If you are happy with him then I will be happy for you both. I meant to ask you this much sooner but then the training got much more difficult and time consuming. Can you keep a eye on Ginny? Please don't tell anyone about this, especially not her, she would get so mad if she found out that I told you, but she might be pregnant. We aren't sure yet, if she is then it was a accident._

 _Love Harry_

A million things are running through Hermione's head after reading this. When she got back to her chambers a owl was pecking on her window, very agitated, it had probably been there for a while. And now her head is more confused than ever.

How could Ginny let herself get pregnant? She seemed so happy to have a break from Teddy, it just doesn't even seem like something Ginny would let happen.

She leaves her rooms quickly and starts walking to the Gryffindor common room to yell at Ginny when Minerva comes walking down the hall from the other direction, looking very upset.

"Hermione, walk with me please." Hermione turns around and matches her pace.

"What is it?"

"Do you remember the chamber of secrets?"

"Of course, its kind of hard to forget. Why?"

"There is a message painted onto the wall in the same place as the first message."

"What? Is it written in blood? What does it say?"

"I don't know. I am going to see it now and I thought that you should see it too." At that moment they get to the hall, and most of the teachers are already there, along with Ginny.

The message reads 'Give him up'. Hermione walks closer to it and touches the paint, to see that it is still wet. She sniffs it.

"It's not blood," she announces. Everyone lets out the breaths that they were holding.

"That means it can't be the chamber," Ginny says. "And the basilisk is dead, there wasn't a chance it could be that. It must be someone trying to scare us into thinking it is."

"But who could it be directed to?" Minerva asks.

"Maybe it is a death eater that we didn't know about trying to get our attention," Luna suggests. She has been coming a bit more down to earth since she and Neville have started dating.

"Minerva, that is most likely what the case is," Neville says. "I can check the passage in the room of requirement and make sure it is still sealed, but maybe it was a student who's parents asked them to do this. Or it could be that a older student asked a younger one to do it as a prank."

"All reasonable options. But until we have a lead we will have the hallway closed. We will say that Peeves made it so that you go through the floor to the below floor, he does that often. Neville, do look into that, and lets check it everyday, just to be safe. Filch, can you clean this up please? Take a picture then paint it over it, I don't care, just get rid of it."

* * *

"I have to tell Harry about this," Ginny says. She is laying on the couch in Hermione's chambers, and she just doesn't seem herself, it could be because of the message on the wall, or it could be because of what was in the letter.

"Why are you freaking out Ginny? Are your hormones going wacky?" Hermione asks indigently.

"You know don't you?" Ginny says, sitting up. "You are the brightest witch of your age, of course you would figure it out."

"Actually, Harry told me. Why wouldn't you tell me Ginny?"

"Because I wanted to handle it by myself, I wanted to prove to myself that I am like you and that I can take care of things like a adult."

"You are a adult Ginny. Sometimes adults ask for help too though. Have you taken a test? Do you know for sure yet?"

"No," Ginny says, shaking her head. "I can't get a test and it is still possible that I'm not, I just can't be sure yet." Hermione's door slams open and Draco storms into the room, looking ready to explode.

"I will get you one in a day or two," Hermione says, looking worriedly at Draco. Ginny stands up and hugs her tightly before leaving the two of them and closing the door softly. "Draco, come sit," she says, sitting down on the couch.

"I can't. I'm just so mad and frustrated about everything that happened. He is a git Hermione, a huge git."

"I've always known that. What is making you say that though?"

"He just kept trying to blame everything on me, saying that they tortured me until he said yes, that they threatened to kill me in front of me and him if he did''t agree to everything. They called me to the stand I denied everything, saying that if they did threaten him, I wasn't in the room, most likely not even in the house. He yelled at me from the stands and then blamed it on my mother, even though it was proven that she wasn't a willing participant and that he forced her into it."

"Draco, that must of been terrible. Are you alright?"

"Hermione, that wasn't even the worst part of it! When they said that he was going to be given the dementors kiss, he started saying that it was all because of the stupid mud blood that I was dating. He was screaming it all the way out of the room. I just wanted to hex him all the way to azkaban myself."

"As nice as that is of you, it's fine, really. I figured something would happen even if I wasn't there." Draco sits down next Hermione, giving a big sigh.

"My mother didn't even say anything about it, but I can tell she was judging me. And all of the photographers were going crazy about how you weren't there. I hate this day."

"Maybe your mom was just upset about the whole day like you were. She might of been more stressed then you."

"So she showed it by silently judging me? That doesn't make my day any better. Can we talk about something else? What happened while I was gone?"

"Someone painted a message on the wall with red paint, like the chamber of secrets."

"What did it say?"

"Give him up. People are hoping that it is just a prank. Ginny is worried that it might have something to do with Harry."

"It always does."

"And she might be pregnant."

"Ginny and Harry? That would mean that she would have it before the end of the school year."

"I know. Do you have any tests?"

"No. I will have it done tomorrow and try to give it to her myself."

"I can give it to her. And I'm sure that Minerva will give you the day off if you ask, given what happened."

"I think just acting like it didn't happen will help distract me." Hermione nods, scooting closer to him.

Draco drapes his arm on the back of the couch and Hermione scoots even closer, putting her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. He rests his head on top of hers, just taking in the smell of her and reveling in it. Hermione knows that he just needs her to be there for him, to be the somewhat stable person right now.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Hermione wakes up the next morning, feeling something hard yet soft under her head and something wrapped around her waist. She lifts her head up a little bit and looks up to see Draco still sleeping peacefully. That's when she remembers falling asleep on the couch, leaning on Draco's shoulder. He must of fallen asleep too.

She slowly moves his arm off of her and stands up slowly, trying to not wake him up. She gets in the shower in her room and rinses off before getting dressed and peeking back at him. He is still sleeping so she grabs a blanket from her room and covers him in it before making her way to the great hall.

"Where is Draco, dear?" Minerva asks when Hermione takes her place at the table.

"He may not be able to perform his duties today Minerva. Yesterday took a toll on him."

"Understandable. I will dismiss all of the students from potions today. Will you be teaching today?"

"Yes, unless Draco decides that he needs me. But I think he may sleep for a while longer." She takes a bite of the eggs on her plate, looking around at all of the students, stopping when she sees Ginny. Ginny is just moving her food around on her plate, not even bothering to take one bite.

Hermione sighs, realizing that she will probably have to make the test now. When her plate is empty she gets up and checks on Draco. He has rolled onto his side but is still fast asleep so she heads to her classroom to see the seventh years there already.

"Hermione, where is Draco? I saw that he wan't at breakfast this morning. Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. He just needed a day," Hermione replies, opening the door and sitting down at her desk. "I will try to get the potion for you later today or tomorrow. He didn't have any on hand so I will have to make one."

"Why doesn't he make it?" she asks, pulling up a chair in front of Hermione's desk.

"He...he just needs the day," Hermione says, looking down.

"Is he okay?" Ginny asks, eyeing Hermione.

"Yeah, it's fine, he is fine. How are you feeling today?"

"Not hungry. I don't feel like I am going to puke but I can't eat. I think I am just nervous about if it is true."

"I still just can't believe that this is even a possibility."

"I didn't mean for it to happen," she says, putting her head down on the desk.

"Ginny, you will be okay if you are. We will figure everything out, here and with Harry."

"I don't want to be the stay-at-home mom, you saw how crazy I was going with Teddy! I wanted a life, a job of some sort, some money that I earned. I don't know what to do now."

"I promise, everything will be okay. You will figure this out, and I will help you. Draco might even help you," Hermione says, putting her hand on top of Ginny's.

"He already is."

"How is he helping you?" Hermione asks, confused.

"By making you happy. Just seeing you smile helps me, I used to be the only one who could make you smile, not even Ron could after the war. I should thank him for that sometime."

"Ginny, I'm sure I smiled tons of times with Ron and Harry. Haven't I?" Hermione asks herself that last part under her breath. "Anyways, you have to get going."

"I don't have a class after this, Draco isn't teaching, remember?"

"Of course I remember. But I still have a class after this. The first years are going to start showing up any minute."

"Fine," Ginny says, sighing as she stands up. "Let me worry by myself."

"Or you could see Neville or Luna. I'm sure either would be happy to help you and I think both of them have a free period."

"Maybe I will. I haven't seen either of them in a while. I will see you later." Hermione waves goodbye as all of her students start trickling in.

* * *

Hermione opens the door to the potions classroom easily, to see Draco, standing in front of a boiling cauldron. He glances up when he hears the door open but looks back down quickly to make sure that whatever he is making is turning to okay.

"You are supposed to be relaxing for the day," Hermione says, putting her bag down on a table.

"I was. I finished the book you gave me, it was intriguing, and then I was bored so I came down here to make that potion for Ginny." Hermione stands next to him and notices that his hair is messy and he is still wearing the same close from yesterday.

"Draco, you should go change," she says, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"It's done," he says, moving away and grabbing some vials, poring the potion into each one. "Now I have to give it to Ginny." He starts walking to the door but Hermione steps in front of him.

"Draco, are you okay?" she asks putting a hand on his chest.

"Yes, I am fine," he says, not looking at her.

"No, your not. Please, just come back to one of our chambers and take a shower, change your close. Then we can go to dinner and she can come to my chambers and take it." Draco looks down at his feet, then around the room, avoiding her eyes. "Draco, look at me." She puts her hands on either side of his face and forces him to look at her. "Please, just come with me Draco," she says, standing on her tip toes and putting her forehead on his.

"Okay," he whispers, wrapping his arms around her waist and putting his head in her hair, closing his eyes.

She starts backing up slowly and Draco moves with her not opening his eyes. She leans over and grabs her bag before turning in his arms and leaving the room, closing and locking the door with a small flick of her wand. They make their way to his chambers, Hermione leading him through halls that are empty, making the trip take much longer than it needed to be.

They walk into his chambers and into his bathroom, and that is when he finally lets go of her. She leans over and turns on his shower. She rubs his back before starting to the door, stopping when she feels Draco grab her wrist. She turns towards him, and her mouth is immediately captured by his, for a slow and passionate kiss.

Hermione pulls away before things get to intense, not wanting to go that far right now. She closes the door after pulling away from him and lays down on his bed, waiting for him to get out. He seems to be in the shower for a long time, but it is probably a good thing because he was looking really gross.

When he looks more refreshed and like he didn't just sleep in a suit all night. He has on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, most likely not even caring about looking professional right now.

They hold hands under the table through dinner, even when walking down the hall with Ginny. When Ginny is in the bathroom taking the test, Hermione has her head on on his shoulder and Draco has his arm wrapped around her, rubbing small circles on her arm.

"How long is it going to take?" Ginny asks, walking out of the bathroom with the vial in her hand.

"2 minutes," Draco says.

"Why does it have to take that long?" Ginny complains, flopping onto the chair, making the potion start sloshing.

"If that spills, you have to clean it by hand," Hermione says.

"Even if I'm pregnant?"

"Yes. It will be good, even just for with Teddy."

"But we can just use magic."

"Sometimes cleaning things by hand just feels a lot better. And I always think that it will be cleaner." Ginny sighs, shaking her head, and Hermione can feel Draco laughing softly underneath her.

"It is changing," Draco says, nodding towards the vial. They all look watch as the clear potion turns into a red color.

"What does it mean?" Ginny asks, looking at Draco.

"It means that a congratulations are in order."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Hermione is somehow in the Malfoy Manor, she isn't sure how she got their, they were must of apparated from the woods after the snatchers got them. She doesn't remember coming here though, or where Ron and Harry are.

 _They must of put some sort of spell on me,_ Hermione thinks. She finally looks around the room, noticing all of the people in the room. All of the Malfoy's are on one side of the room, Draco is standing a little bit away from his parents though, looking very uncomfortable. She thinks she may recognize one the of other three people there as Bellatrixs's husband. But the worst person in the room has to be Bellatrixs herself, who is walking towards Hermione, and Hermione doesn't like the look on her face.

"Where is it mudblood?" she asks, getting so close to Hermione that she can feel her breath on her face from where she is sitting on the floor.

"Where is what?" Hermione asks in a small squeak when she was trying to sound confident.

"The sword! You know where it is, give it back to me now!" she yells.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Hermione says, looking at the wall opposite of her. Bellatrixs walks around Hermione, and when she is standing in front her she pushes Hermione to the ground roughly. Bellatrix kicks her roughly in the side, making her roll onto her back, and then leans down over her. Hermione notices something glinting in her hand and knows exactly what it is, making her breathing speed up.

The tip of the knife is pushed into her arm, and Hermione screams at the top of her lungs, feeling the knife turn in her skin. She always knew that being stabbed would hurt, but having your arm carved has to be worse.

"Hermione, wake up," a distant voice says. Hermione opens her eyes and sits up straight, hitting her head hard on something. "Bloody Merlin," the same voice says, now recognizing it as Draco.

"What happened?" Hermione asks drowsily rubbing her head.

"You were screaming so I woke you up. And then our heads collided. You have a hard head."

"It protects my big brain. Why am I in your chambers?" Hermione asks, looking around the room at all of the green and black.

"You fell asleep in my chambers. Don't you remember?" he asks, looking at her confusedly. Hermione shakes her head. "We were talking for a long time and then I went to take a shower and when I came out, you were asleep."

"How do I not remember that?" Hermione asks, more to herself than to Draco. "What time is it?"

"It's almost time to get ready for classes," he says, looking at his watch.

"I feel like I have barely slept," she says, rubbing her eyes.

"Well we are going to up for a while tonight, you might just want to take it easy today," he says, standing up and going to his dresser.

"What do you mean? What is going on today?" Hermione asks, standing up and feeling lightheaded, almost falling over. Draco runs over and catches her before her head hits the bedside table. He lifts her up and sets her on the bed where she leans forward, head between her knees. Draco sits next to her rubbing her back soothingly.

"Does that happen every time?" he asks, his voice so quiet Hermione can barely hear him.

"No, only when I am in the dream that long. Usually I wake up sooner. What is so special about today?"

"It's halloween. But I think you should relax today."

"How could I forget halloween!" Hermione exclaim, sitting up quickly, making vision spin again. "Can you help me to my chambers to change? I have things to do today."

"Things that can't be done when you can't walk straight."

"Then you can help me. Hurry and get dressed, we have a busy day."

"Well that was fun," Draco says after helping Hermione sit down.

"I told you I was fine," Hermione says, her cheeks getting red.

"You fell down, I had to make sure you were okay."

"You knew I was getting dressed though!" she exclaims.

"I didn't know that you didn't have any type of top on at the time," Draco says, taking a bite of his food.

"If I didn't need your help today I wouldn't talk to you for a while." She glares at him over her glass of orange juice.

"It's not like I wouldn't see them eventually," he says, a small smirk on his face. Hermione's face gets even redder.

"We can talk about that later," she whispers, not looking at him.

"Hello," Luna says behind them, causing Hermione and Draco to jump.

"Hello Luna. We didn't realize you were behind us." Hermione's face is even redder, if that is even possible.

"I figured. I just wanted to warn you Hermione. Ron is coming to the castle today to see Ginny. Apparently she sent something to the family and he was sent to see if it is true."

"Thank you for the heads up Luna," Hermione says as Luna walks away. Hermione puts her head in her hand, feeling that the day couldn't get any worse.

Of course the day did get worse. Since Ginny's first period class was with Hermione that is where Ron went first.

"Is it true?" he yelled, bursting through the door, making it slam into the wall.

"Class, you are dismissed early," Hermione says calmly, leaning back in her chair. Ginny is sitting where she always sits, in front of Hermione's desk.

"Ron, calm down," Ginny says, standing up slowly and facing him.

"Then tell me if it is true. Are you pregnant?" Ginny looks down and is fidgeting with her fingers before answering.

"Yes, I am pregnant."

"How could you let this happen, Gin! You are still in school. Mum almost fainted when she got your letter."

"Well you shouldn't even of been at Mum's when the letter got there. What, are living there now? Have you finally had enough of Lavender?"

"Shut up Ginny!" he yells before turning to Hermione. "And you, how could you? How are you dating that weasel? Why would you date that weasel?"

"It's not any of your business, Ronald," she says, glaring at him.

"Of course it is my business! I am your friend. And that person can not be trusted!"

"Just stop Ron!" Hermione yells, standing up and slamming her fist on the table. "We stopped being friends when you cheated on me." She sits again quickly, the room starting to terribly spin. "Get out of my classroom Ronald."

"What?" Ron asks, a look of pure and raw anger on his face.

"I said, get out of my classroom," Hermione repeats in a deathly calm voice. "You decided to not be my friend when you had an affair with Lavender. You have no say in my life, or Ginny's actually. Now get out!"

Ron turns around, face as red as his hair, and storms out of the room. Hermione closes her eyes, trying to calm herself down.

"You showed him Mione," Ginny says, looking impressed. "You just told him off big time."

"Where do you think he went?"

"I don't know, maybe to Minerva. Or..." she trails off.

"What? Ginny, you don't think he actually would go find Draco, do you?"

"I think that is exactly what he would do, actually."

Hermione bolts out of the chair and runs out of the room, doing her best to ignore the spinning and makes her way to the dungeon. She bursts into the potions room to see all of the first years in the classroom in a corner of the room. The desks and cauldrons are all over the floor, and standing over Draco, who is propping himself up on one arm, is Ron.

"Get out of here," Hermione says, motioning to the first years. They all run out as fast as they can, fighting each other at the door. "Ronald Weasley, stop!" she shouts.

Draco looks over at her then and Hermione notices the blood all over his face. She walks forward to him and sits on the floor next to him. Ron is still just standing in the middle of the room.

"Ron, get out of the room, better yet, get out if the castle," she says, glaring up at him, or really one of the four of him. Draco puts his hand on Hermione's leg, drawing her attention back to him. Ron slams the door closed and they are left alone.

"I'm so sorry, Draco," she says, tears in her eyes. "I can't believe he did this." Draco sits up slowly, wincing and grabbing his side, before leaning against the wall. Hermione leans back too, and puts her hand on his arm.

"It's not like you made him do it, he is an adult, he decided to beat me up. It has nothing to do with you."

"It kind of is though. He came down here because I kicked him out of my classroom."

"Hermione, it is not your fault. Don't think of it as your fault because it's not." Hermione looks down at her lap. Draco gently puts his hand on her far cheek, lefting her head up, then gently kisses her lips. Hermione pulls away from him to soon.

"How badly are you hurt?" she asks, moving so that she can see more of him.

"It's not that bad. Just a broken nose, maybe a black eye, and a broken rib or two."

"That seams pretty bad to me," she says, pulling out her wand.

"You must of never been in a fist fight before."

"No, and I hope that I never will." Hermione mutters a spell that puts his nose back in place, making a loud crack sound go throughout the room.

"A warning might of been nice," Draco says in a tight voice.

"Alright." She mutters another spell, fixing any broken ribs. "Better?" she asks, a small smile on her face.

"No, not better, not better at all."

"Well, that is all that I can heal with magic. Do you have any potions that could help with your eye?"

"No. I can get some raw meat from the house elves later."

"Or you could get a potion, it would be so much better."

"I need proof of what Weasley did to me to show Minerva. She will hopefully kick him out of the castle."

"Then we can get a potion." Draco sighs in defeat.

"Lets go find Minerva," he says, standing up and holding out his hand, which Hermione takes, and pulls her up.

"You still have to help me, okay?"

"How did you get down here in the first place?" Draco asks, the thought just now occuring to him.

"I think I was so worried about what Ron would do to you that I didn't care about almost vomiting, falling, or hitting my head. I just pushed it to the side." Draco wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her. Hermione wraps her arms around his neck, running one of her hands through his hair a little bit.

"Thank you," he says, after they pull apart. Hermione just nods her head, out of breath.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It must have been an odd sight, Hermione thought, as they made their way up the stairs. Draco had his arm wrapped tightly around Hermione's waist, while Hermione had her arm around his neck. Hermione was staggering and her face, while indeed very green and pale, had a look of determination. Draco wasn't much better, with specks of blood on his clothes and face and his black eye.

"Draco, we need to find her," Hermione says through heavy breaths, worry building up in her gut.

"We will. We will find both of them, Minerva and Ginny. We are almost to Minerva's office now." We just have to get up the spiral staircase to her office, Draco thought, pulling Hermione closer to him. He knew that the weasel couldn't hurt her when he was with her, but he was feeling very paranoid that Weasely would appear from behind a statue or a dark hallway. He had almost thought to leave Hermione in the Potions room but couldn't bear the thought of her by herself, even though she is very capable of taking care of herself.

"What is the password?" Hermione asks as they near the statue that leads to Minerva's office. She knew the staircase was not going to be great for her in her current state, but she had to get up there, she had to get Ginny safe. And if getting Draco and herself safe was an option, she was going to take it.

"Albus," Draco says, both to her and the statue, which begins rising.

They get onto the staircase as it is still moving up so they will have less to walk up. Hermione closes her eyes and takes deep breaths, trying to not focus on the movement. Draco squeezes her waist and puts his head in her hair, breathing in her smell.

They stop moving up so they begin walking the small distance to the top. Draco bursts through the door, pulling Hermione after him, and they walk over to Minerva's desk. Minerva just stares up at the couple, taking in their appearance with shock as they both talk in one continuous stream.

"Both of you, shut it," Minerva exclaims, making them both stop. "Please sit down and explain what has happened, together."

"But there is no time for sitting," Hermione says quickly. "Ron is going crazy because he found out that Ginny is pregnant yelled at her and me for being with Draco, then he had a one way fist fight with Draco in front of a class of first years!" she exclaims, all in one breath.

"Where is he now," Minerva asks, rising from her chair and walking to her fireplace.

"He stormed out of my classroom in a hough. He could be anywhere now."

"I'm worried that he went back to Ginny. I can't imagine that he would hurt her, but he is doing things that I would never imagine today."

"We must find him. I am going to write to the ministry now and they will help. I want you two to go to the hospital wing. Poppy will have something for both of you."

"But we want to help," Draco says, giving Minerva a look of disbelief.

"Neither of you are in any shape to help find either of them. When Miss Weasely is found I will send her to the hospital wing as well. Now go so that I can inform the ministry."

Draco wraps his arm around Hermione again, as he let go of her while they were talking. He sort of drags her out of the room, her feet not moving much.

"Hermione, do you need me to carry you?"

"No, I'm fine. I... I just need to sit down for a minute." Draco helps her to sit down on the stairs then slides down next to her. "I don't feel good," she says reluctantly, putting her head on the wall behind her. Her whole body is shaking and she feels so cold.

"I know," Draco says, putting his hand on her cheek. "I think you're sick. I'll carry you to Poppy, I'm sure she will have something that will make you feel better." He puts his arms under her legs and around her back, gently lifting her and making his way down the stairs.

"Draco, I'm sorry. About all of this." Hermione puts her head on Draco's chest and rests one of hands on his chest as well.

"It was not your fault. He is an adult, 'Mione. He decided to do this. Don't ever think that this was your fault." Hermione nods her head slowly and closes her eyes, breathing in his sent.

* * *

"Put her in this bed here," Poppy says, leading Draco to the closest bed. He gently sets her down and Hermione shifts on the bed so that she is laying down.

"How soon will she be able to leave?" Draco asks. "We need to help find Ginny and Ronald."

"You can not rush the healing process Mr. Malfoy. Sit down on the next bed and I will get you a potion that will take care of your eye."

"Draco, you heard what Minerva said," Hermione says, turning her head to look at him. "Ginny will come here as soon as they find her."

"What about the Weasel then? He can not just be able to walk around after what he did to you."

"He didn't hurt me, he just yelled. You were the one that he hurt. And don't worry, they will catch him and then he won't come near us again."

"How can you be so reassuring when you feel terrible?"

"How can you be freaking out about this when we survived a war?"

"I didn't have someone to freak out over," he replies, standing up walking over to her bed.

"Sit down Mr. Malfoy," Poppy says sternly, coming out of her potions room and walking over to stand between both beds. She can not have two professors snogging in her hospital wing when children could come through those doors at any second, she thought, and being professors, they should know better.

Hermione sighs as Draco sits down on the bed. She really wanted to kiss him. When he says something as caring as that it reminds her of just how much he has changed and how much she loves him.

"Drink this and you should be feeling much better soon," Poppy says, dragging Hermione out of her thoughts as she hands Hermione a cup. "This should get rid of your black eye." She hands Draco another cup and walks into her office, closing the door loudly behind her.

Hermione downs the potion then lays back on her pillow and closes her eyes. Draco quickly swallows his as well, but once he has finished he gets out of his bed and goes to Hermione's, laying on his side next to her. Hermione scoots over to give him more room. He wraps his arms around her and Hermione scoots closer to him, so her head is pressed into his chest.

"I think I am falling in love with you," she mumbles into his chest.

"Did you say something?" he asks, looking down at her. He knew exactly what she said, but he really wanted to hear it again. He wanted to hear her say that she loved him over and over again, he would never be able to get enough of it.

"I will tell you later. When we aren't in a hospital, when my friend isn't in possible danger, when I know for sure."

"Or you could just say what ever you said now." He shrugs his shoulders like it is no big deal. "We might be here for a while."

"That is why you just have to wait."


End file.
